Page 102 of The Longshot

I roll my eyes in a laugh, ready to collect my clothes when he guides me back.

“Nuh-uh,” he says, placing me back on top of the bench. “Remember when I said I’d finish you?” His hand is back between my thighs. “Well, this lesson? It’s not quite over yet.”

TWENTY-SIX

W I L K S

If cloud nine were a place, there’d never be a moment where she wasn’t looking into my eyes.

It would be filled with endless kisses—endless laughs—and would end even better than it began.

There would be no stress, no worries, no hard times, no suffering, just good. Good all the time.

In cloud nine, we’d never get enough of one another. It would be a temptatious longing urge, but it’d be okay because craving one another would be all that we’d desire, and it would satisfy, nourish, and push us to be the best versions of ourselves we could be.

If cloud nine were a place, I'd feel it in my heart, yet somehow I already do, for cloud nine is a place—it’s a place I've created here with you.

“What are you daydreaming about over there?” Chelsie catches my attention as we lie in bed—her brushing the sleep away from her eyes, whereas I’ve already been awake for hours, staring over at her perfection.

“Are you stuck in the clouds, Gary Wilkinson?” She sits up, stretching out her arms before falling right back down onto my chest and nestling in close.

There’s a warmth that radiates from her that fuels me on mornings like today but aches me with that familiar melancholy feeling—the one that reminds me that we can’t stay in this bed forever. As the clock ticks in front of me, I know that soon I need to get going.

I’ve got an away game this weekend, one that oh so conveniently just had to fall around the time of Chelsie’s Mum and Dad’s vow renewal.

We’re going.

Our turbulent greenhouse shenanigans were only the start of a full night ahead. Once we both finished, I was able to talk Chelsie into going back into the house—her slightly disheveled and covered in dirt, and me a sweaty mess with several missing buttons.

I'm certain her parents were highly suspicious, but at that point, they were on their best behavior, keeping their comments to themselves.

The evening progressed as if nothing had ever transpired, and after a couple of apologies and an overall pleasant night, Chelsie and I came to the conclusion that we’d bite the bullet and go to the renewal. It would only be right.

It’s been a month since then, and all I can say is that I’ve never appreciated time more than I do now. Being away from Chelsie, even if it’s only for a few nights, pains me—it literally pains me.

I’m attached—co-dependant. She’s become a crucial organ, which makes sense because she’s absolutely become one of the beating forces in my heart, and as she looks up at me, waiting for me to respond to her comment, I want to tell her my innermost thoughts.

I want to tell her that yes, I’m in the clouds, I’m in the clouds because I've fallen in love with her. That I’m in love with her, but like she feared to put a label on the two of us, I fear to scare her away with such a confession so soon. I can’t lose her because losing her would mean losing a piece of myself, and that, I’m not willing to risk.

“I’m just thinking,” I admit, running my hand along her bare back as I kiss her forehead. “That’s all, baby girl.”

“Thinking about what?” She pries, batting her eyelashes up at me.

She’s impossible to lie to, but I have no other choice.

“Just about how I’m going to be thinking about you non-stop at the game tomorrow. I’ll be counting down those ninety minutes like my life depends on it.”

Since that first game she attended, Chelsie’s been to every single one of my home matches since. Sometimes in the jersey I got her, sometimes in the one she got for herself with my name on it. It doesn’t take a genius to realize which of the two I prefer her in most…

Chelsie’s become my good-luck charm without even realizing it. Over the years I’ve always had an abundance of love and support from the fans, but there’s something organic about having one spectator in the crowd who knows me in a way like no one else. It’s extraordinarily special.

“Are you sure you’re going to be able to make it to the vow renewal?” There’s a sense of anxiety in Chelsie’s voice as she sits up and anxiously pulls the covers against her chest. “I’m just worried you won’t make it in time.”

“I promised I would be there, baby girl.” I pull her back into my frame. “And have I let you down so far?”

“No,” she hums against my chest. “You haven’t.”

“Well then, see.” I kiss her once more before making my way out of bed. “There’s nothing to worry about then, is there?”

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